How Season 3 Should Have Ended
by taylorsarebel
Summary: Just how I think Season 3 of The 100 should have ended.


Clarke takes a deep breath and opens her eyes. She's back. She survived the City of Light. "You need to take the flame out," she states to her mother. Abby nods. Clarke looks around her. The people are coming back to their senses. All of their pain etched across their faces. Some people even cry out with the force of it all. Clarke sees Murphy, hands inside of Ontari's lifeless body. He's still pumping her heart. Clarke internally shudders. No one notices. Abby goes to Murphy so she can take care of Ontari and Murphy pulls his hands out of the dead girl. They are dripping black blood as goes towards Clarke.

Clarke bends her head down and lets Murphy speak the phrase that makes the flame come to life. He pulls the AI out of the back of Clarkes neck, its feelers searching for a new host before it closes in on itself and returns back to its closed state. Abby comes over and takes the flame from Murphy. Clarke doesn't look at it. It makes her feel weak inside. She is on the verge of tears. She will never see Lexa again. The last image she has of Lexa is her going off to battle to protect her, and Clarke feels her eyes well up with tears as whispers of, "I'll always be with you," fill her mind.

Abby folds the flame into Clarke's hand, and holds on to her daughter for just a moment longer than necessary. Mothers always know when something is wrong with their child, but Abby stays silent until Clarke quietly tells her to go to Kane. Abby leaves her daughter's side to go to the man she may be falling in love with. Kane is in pain, and Abby wraps him up in her arms to steady his shaking. Clarke looks away from the affection, knowing she will never get to hold Lexa again.

She takes a shuddering breath to calm her racing heart, and blinks back tears. Lexa would've wanted her to move on and be happy, but all Clarke can think about is Lexa's lips on hers in a hurried final kiss. It's not fair, but then again, nothing has been fair since the day that dropship brought one-hundred kids and teenagers to the ground all those months ago.

All around Clarke people are crying in pain and relief that they are back and Alie is gone. Clarke is the only one who knows that the earth and all its inhabitants are going to be doomed sooner than they think. None of them are safe, and this time, Clarke won't be able to stop it. She can't stop the whole world from dying. It's too much. Her shoulders sag with the weight of this burden she holds. She looks down and realizes she is still sitting on Lexa's throne. She's thankful that she is looking down because she blushes a deep shade of red as she thinks about Lexa sitting in this exact same spot.

The thoughts are innocent and full of want. She misses Lexa. Her heart aches to hold the girl in her arms again. Her stomach feels like it is completely missing from inside of her and she can't decide if she needs to throw up or cry until she passes out. She keeps her head down, knowing that her facial expressions will betray her. She doesn't want the people around her to see her fall apart. She grips the armrests on Lexa's throne until her hands hurt and her knuckles turn white. She needs to be strong now. She needs to suck it up and figure out the impossible. She needs to save the planet from becoming uninhabitable.

Clarke is so consumed by her own thoughts and trying to control her emotions that she doesn't hear the door open. She doesn't hear Abby's intake of breath. She completely missed Octavia burying her sword into Pike until he fell dead at her feet. She doesn't notice how the whole room has fallen silent and are staring blankly between her and the newcomer. She misses the footsteps that echo with each step they take towards her. She can't see the feet that stop right in front of her. Clarke is so intently focused on herself for once that she misses all of it, until someone speaks, "A commander should always lead with her head held high," comes a soft voice.

Clarke lifts her head so fast, all of a sudden not caring who sees the tears rolling down her face. Lexa is standing in front of her and that's all that matters. She's wearing her commander's uniform and her war paint is perfectly applied to her face. When Lexa sees Clarke's tears, she crumbles. Her perfectly straight back hunches and her proud shoulders sag. She drops down to her knees in front of her own throne and takes Clarke's face in hers. She wipes the tears off of Clarke's cheeks with her thumbs.

"Clarke," she whispers. "I told you I would always be with you. I'm right here, like I said."

A laugh mixed with a sob bubbles out of Clarke as she roughly pulls the girl into her arms. She's holding onto Lexa so tightly that she's sure the other girl is having trouble breathing, but at this moment Clarke doesn't care. Lexa is holding her back just as firmly, and they are together. Lexa is there and she's real. Clarke doesn't care about everyone else in the room. She can't even see them. All she can see is Lexa. All she can feel is Lexa in her arms, and she never wants to let go. At this moment, the fate of the world is forgotten, because Lexa is here and Lexa makes everything better.


End file.
